Faculty Affiliate Dr. Rebecca Lewis

Dr. Rebecca Lewis is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at UT Austin. She is the founder and Director of the Ankoatsifaka Research Station in the Kirindy Mité National Park, part of the UNESCO Belo-sur-Mer – Kirindy Mité Biosphere, and founder and Director of the Sifaka Research Project, a long-term research project examining the behavior, demography, ecology, morphology, physiology, genetics, and conservation of Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) in the tropical dry forest in Kirindy Mité National Park. She studies the biodiversity in western Madagascar (focusing primarily on the mammals and flora). Her research includes the effects of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance on tropical forests and lemur populations. She has published on the impact of cyclones on ecology and is currently studying how cyclonic activity influences fire ecology. She has helped assess conservation status and develop conservation strategies for lemurs for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Her work as been published in a range of journals including Biotropica, Journal of Tropical Ecology, Quarterly Review of Biology, American Journal of Primatology, International Journal of Primatology, and American Journal of Physical Anthropology.